Interested in a $106,000 education for free?

Friday

Feb 3, 2012 at 12:01 AMFeb 4, 2012 at 3:26 PM

Antioch College continues to make headlines with its unique attempt to lure students to theschool with full-tuition scholarships. The offer comes four years after the private liberal arts school in Yellow Springs suspended operations due to financial problems.

Antioch trustees recently approved extending full scholarships to all students admitted for the next three years. This year's "pioneer class" are already receiving scholarships to the still unaccredited school. The Ohio Board of Regents has signed off on Antioch's request to seek accreditation, but the process could take four years or more.

Based on the value of the current $26,500 yearly tuition, each four-year scholarship would be worth at least $106,000.

Antioch College continues to make headlines with its unique attempt to lure students to theschool with full-tuition scholarships. The offer comes four years after the private liberal arts school in Yellow Springs suspended operations due to financial problems.

Antioch trustees recently approved extending full scholarships to all students admitted for the next three years. This year's "pioneer class" are already receiving scholarships to the still unaccredited school. The Ohio Board of Regents has signed off on Antioch's request to seek accreditation, but the process could take four years or more.

Based on the value of the current $26,500 yearly tuition, each four-year scholarship would be worth at least $106,000.

"We don't want economics to be an impediment to a high-quality liberal arts education," Antioch President Mark Roosevelt said in a recent written statement. "By providing four year, full-tuition scholarships, we make attending Antioch College a realistic option for the best and brightest students, regardless of their family's economic situation."

Roosevelt said there have been major increases to the school's endowment and annual fund.The endowment gre3w to $51.7 million, in large part because of the $35 million payout from the merger of the Yellow Springs Institute, an environmental monitoring company founded at the college, with ITT Corp., saidSteve Sturman, vice president for advancement.And the school's annual fund saw the largest one-month gain in college history in December, receiving $658,208.

The school still faces financial challenges, Roosevelt acknowledged, but the college "can comfortably invest in students" while senior leaders work to develop a funding model that is less reliant on tuition dollars, he said.